User Reviews

Strengths: I used to be a biker. Then, I was into running for about 20-25 years. When I got back into biking, I found I had a lot of wrist pain and hand numbness that didn't used to bother me. I put this On-One Mary bar on a hybrid bike I use for bike paths and graded dirt roads (700C x 32 tires). This bar, plus raising the stem several inches to reduce the pressure on my hands, has been a big help. The wrist pain is my less. I still get hand numbness on rides of several hours, but that is anatomy and age, not the bar's fault. This bar was not available from any distributor in the US when I was looking for one in 2011, but I found one at my favorite bike store--eBay. I went with a Hitec J-bar on my single speed mountain bike. I like the J-bar more, but it requires a stem with a 4-bolt face plate.

Weaknesses: I have a 15-20 year old Girvin Flexstem on this old hybrid. It was difficult to get the wide clamp around the bend in the handlebar. My stem clamp is 35mm wide (NOT the clamp diameter, which is 25.4mm on my bike). If your stem is 2 or 3 mm narrower, you will have no difficulty. Do pay attention to clamp diameter. I read on the Internet that this handlebar is available in both 31.8mm and 25.4mm. On my road bike, my hands and wrists still feel most comfortable riding the hoods on dropbars.

Bottom Line:

A very comfortable bar which helps with wrist and hand problems that occur with straight bars. My choice for a mountain bike or hybrid when your stem does not have a 4-bolt face plate.

I have been using this with gt karakoram hardtail. This is really a great bar, have also the 720mm fleegle for my rip9. I use this bar primarily for my 29er commuter hardtail, but once i tried it on the trails, will never go back to straight or risers again. Control was amazing on rocky, loose, any trails. Planning on replacing my fleegle with another mary for my rip9. If there was carnegies here in the philippines will use it for my rip9. Wish it was a bit wider around 720mm, then it is perfect.

I have tried several types of bars, flat and riser and some alt-bars with anywhere between 11 and 23 degrees back sweep. I keep coming back to the Mary bar. I feel like I'm riding slower with the Mary but the GPS and my wrists don't lie. I am at least half a mile an hour faster when riding with the Mary bar. Midwest single track is all about weaving in and out of trees and bounding over roots, and the Mary is narrow enough to fit between the trees while giving the leverage required to keep the front wheel under control when riding over large roots, rocks, and logs. Other bars require that I shed a lot of speed when negotiating tight single track or risk bashing my knuckles. I do have to use a stem that is about 20mm longer in order to fit comfortably but it's worth it. I can ride considerably farther with this bar since I no longer experience wrist or elbow pain. It's even comfy enough for long boring bike path/road rides.

Strengths: This is my rigid bike enabler. With out these bars I have pain in my hands, calluses and the like. With them I can ride for hours and hours on rocky technical terrain without a worry, pain or calluses building.

Weaknesses: They are weird looking and there is barely enough room for a full size lock on grip, brake and shifter.

Bottom Line:

If you find that you have hand pain I suggest going right to these and bypassing the mid range bend bars (fleegle, salsa etc). They will take some getting used to but I use them on everything, including very technical rocky descents and ascents.

They in no way hinder my ability to descend technically or ascend technically.

If i had a full suspension bike I would use these or ragley carnegies in a heart beat. They just really work for me and my hands.

Weaknesses: Perhaps 3-5 degrees more sweep than ideal, at least for me

Bottom Line:

I originally bought these for a commuter, and then decided to try them on a 29er project build. They have been there ever since. I have raced this setup three times, and put many many hours on these bars. I can never use straight bars again. Ideally, a tiny bit less sweep would be perfect for me, but I have no hand numbness or wrist soreness even after 4 hours. More telling, I don't get the pumped up forearm problem on long technical downhill sections. The only problem with the version I purchased is that there is basically no section of this bar that is perpendicular to the direction of travel, making it awkward to mount a computer or a light, let alone both. The bars were a bit expensive when they first came out, but I see that you can get these for considerably less now.

Weaknesses: Heavy I guess, there are much lighter options for sure. Because of the sweep of the bars, depending on what brake levers you have, and the placement, the cable/hose is sticking out is waiting to get damaged in a crash. This is honestly can be a big issue. I have broken a few Avid SD7 levers. Then again I crash often and very hard. This is also an issue that I will happily live with in exchange for the comfort the bars bring to my life. NO MORE NUMB HANDS!

Bottom Line:

This is my second review of the Marys. I have used these bars for a couple years now and have to say it's the best money I have spent. Comfortable, especially if you ride for hours. If you get numb hands during your rides, this is the answer, period.

Some people love 'em, I didn't. Too much sweep/angle, either puts my elbows into my ribs, or makes me kink my wrists, or not grab the bar with my whole hand. Handlebars are a personal thing, but I found these very uncomfortable.

I am a road rider and never venture off the tarmac so this review is aimed at riders like myself.

I was tired and frustrated with the general discomfort of straight bars with a slight rise. My elbows always seemed to be forced outward causing endless re-adjusting in the saddle.I had been saying to a friend for an age that this kind of standard handlebar just does not seem right and being an ex motorcyclist I noticed most of their bars sweep back and slightly down. So after 7 years(!) I started researching alternatives. Reviews of the Mary bars were almost all positive so I took a chance and bought a set.

With only a couple of weeks of use I can safely say these bars are worth the money and worth a try.

The comfort they bring is unbelieveable, I now realise how out of control the straight bars felt especially when braking very hard from high speed. Now I feel balanced and relaxed when the front end dives. Being a wheelie nut I wondered how the change would effect the fun ? Of course it feels slightly odd at first but once again a more relaxed and balanced feel has been gained. Cornering at speed with the bike leant over has been the most noticeable change of feeling, though not a problem just a case of getting use to the new sensation. I added a Renthal bar brace which dilutes the 'cruiser' look and useful for attaching lights. The XT shifters fit ok, felt odd for a moment but work fine. Being a sucker for bikes and their accessories looking good and not awkward the hardest thing to get use too with the Mary bar is the 'bat wing' look especially on a mountain/hybrid bike. Take time setting them at the correct angle for maximum comfort and you wont be disappointed. I hope this lengthy review helps. 46

These really are great bars, don't be afraid of trying them on a FS 26er. There is a small learning curve but it's just reprogramming your reactions. Wheelies and off-cambers required a bit more thought until they got familiar.
If you have arms, these put them in a better position. It's more relaxed- I think I can breathe easier, and with these your forearms don't do the pulling on climbs, your biceps and upper arms do. No hand numbness anymore either. I recommend these 100%, if you can endure getting a longer stem (+20mm for me), finding your position, lengthening your cables and hoses, and the occasional heckling in Moab, from German XC dorks painted in lycra and cologne (but you'll pass them on the downhill or anything technical anyway).

Strengths: Releived my hand numbness, much more comfortable than any riser or flatbar I have used. Very nice looking finish. Multiple hand positions is nice for long rides. Stable controled handling feel. Soaks up some chatter from the road.

Weaknesses: Little bit of flex while pumping hard in a standing position. Put's the shifters in a weird position, but you get used to it rather quickly.

Bottom Line:

Perfect for what I'm using it for, which is commuting. I'm 100% satisfied with the improvement in comfort over "regular" bars, feel and control have improved too.

15 (now 16) reviews and one curmudgeon. I can't believe the difference with these bars. I'm going down stuff I used to walk before because I feel completely in control. They're really phenomenal.

I also switched to Ergon grips at the same time. I'm not sure if the combination is a 1+1 = 5 kinda thing or if they both just rock in their own ways. but whatever, go buy both and make yourself a better rider instantly.

Similar Products Used: riser bars, flat bars - but nothing else like it

Bike Setup: Asylum XXL 29er

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Jay
a Cross Country Rider
from Lake County, Ohio

Date Reviewed: May 25, 2008

Strengths: Comfort and stability, length of gripping area. Most natural hand extension of any bar so far.

Weaknesses: None so far. Weight, Maybe? Cables need made to made longer, Shimano trigger shifters end up in a funky position. Grips that fit the length.

Bottom Line:

It started with the Planet X bike. Just as something relaxed to ride without being hunch over(road bars) or twitchy (flat bars). Put them on and it was like WHY on earth have I never use these before. I put my hands down by my side and the bars fit my hands without turning my wrist or flanking my elbows to fit. It has not been this natural since my moto-X days. These bars also made my race steed fun relaxed and dependable. I gave up my Easton carbon bars for these. Absolutely no regrets. Ps. Grips Planet-X =funky bar tape w/gel pad. Ritchey = 2 sets of Specialized sidewinders grip. One cut shorter(beautifully) with a pipe cutter and one at full length. One of the best cycling purchases I've made in 15 years.

Hey where are all the other reviews? I posted earlier and need to post again.

I bought the bars because of rave performance reviews and initial comments I saw on On-One's website. I'm a big, 220lb, 6'2" singlespeeder with 20 years of mountain biking and build up my own bikes. I torque everything right, yadda, yadda.

That said, I used these bars for 6 months singlespeeding, 3 months on a 1X9 climbing steep stuff, mostly cross-country with an occasional steep downhill excitement on the singletrack. The bars flexed, they flexed in the garage while I was just sitting there. I thought it was okay, until they snapped while just riding along. I survived without a scratch.

Some may say it was the stems fault, but I say they are flexy. Not good for a big singlespeeding fanatic. Check it carefully!

What a waste of money. Get a 31.8 something and something stiff for singlespeeding. Zeroes all around

Is there anybody out there who spends a lot of time on the bike and honestly doesn't have sore thumbs? I've holes on the palms of my gloves from resting my hands on the ends of the bars whilst climbing or cruising. These bars are brill. Only just got them, never wanted to pay full price so got them used but had to go and get another stem because I couldn't pick up a shim anywhere to fit the existing oversize clamp on my bike. However, my new stem does let the world see the pretty little Mary peering out!A lot of my friends use them so I knew what I was getting into, they are super comfortable on long and short rides, feel slightly different from normal but anybody can get used to them quickly! FORGET THUMB AND WRIST PAIN WITH THESE BABIES! Plus they look cool.

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